Terra - The Sustainability Pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 2021

Architects: Grimshaw
Lead Architect: Nicholas Grimshaw
Landscape Architects: Desert Ink
General Contractor: ASGC Group
Client: Emaar Properties, Expo 2020 Dubai
Photographers: Phil Handforth and Tom Hennes
Exhibition Designers: thinc
Engineers: Buro Happold

Terra ― The Sustainability Pavilion, opens to the public in 2021 as one of the top attractions of the Dubai Expo 2020 and aims to illuminate the ingenuity and possibility of architecture for future sustainable living.

Drawing inspiration from complex natural processes, the dynamic form of the Pavilion is capturing energy from sunlight and freshwater from humid air. The relationship of building to the site and its physical and cultural contexts is critical, as the facility demonstrates a new way of living sustainably in a challenging desert environment. The Pavilion structure works in tandem with the considered landscape of demonstration gardens, winding pathways and shaded enclaves to create an aura of magic punctuated by the sights, smells and tactile opportunities of nature. 

The gardens are both experiential and functional, setting the stage for the exhibition contents within and creating shaded gathering areas that manage and distribute crowds while providing retail, food, and beverage opportunities. 

To achieve net-zero, the design required a series of technologies, building systems and design solutions to act in unison. This self-contained, micro-ecosystem resulted from a combination of strategies: optimizing the natural conditions inherent in its location; working with and within them to maximize efficiency; and supplementing them with pioneering sustainable technologies to create innovative solutions. The design is driven by maximizing efficiency which it does by seeking shade below the ground. The Pavilion uses the insulating properties of the earth to shield it from the harsh ambient temperatures which can soar to 50 degrees in the warmer months. Most of the accommodation is below grade and cased with an earth roof system. 

The above-ground surfaces are clad with a gabion rainscreen wall ― sourced with local stone from the Hajar Mountains ― which provides enough thermal mass to absorb the heat while the stone’s natural colour reflects the sun. Soaring over the courtyard, the Pavilion’s canopy accommodates more than 6,000 sqm of ultra-efficient monocrystalline photovoltaic cells embedded in glass panels. 

The combination of the cell and the glass casing allows the building to harness solar energy while providing shade and daylighting to the visitors. The canopy also serves as a large collection area for stormwater and dew that replenishes the building’s water system. The culmination of the building’s systems can be found in its large exterior courtyard. During the design, thermodynamic studies charting the prevailing breezes were used to shape the courtyard to allow cool south-westerly breezes to enter while blocking warmer winds. 

The Pavilion is complemented by an installation of Energy Trees. Ranging from 15-18m in diameter, nineteen E-Trees are dispersed throughout the site and provide 28% of the energy required to power the building. Inspired by the Dragon’s Blood, a tree found only on island Socotra, the E-Tree is designed to be a deployable freestanding shade structure that harvests the sun’s energy. Taking further cues from nature, the array follows the sun, rotating 180 degrees throughout the course of the day to maximize the energy yield, before returning to its original position at night.